New name for Dixie School
District is needed

The Dixie School District has long been known for academic excellence and as a community that cares for and supports their students in every way.

This district now has the opportunity to choose a name that lives up to that reputation by acknowledging history while creating institutional change with a more modern understanding of how symbolic representations can reinforce harmful actions inflicted in earlier times.

The name “Dixie” is recognized as a symbol of the Old South, where traditions and legacies of the Confederate era and the antebellum South live most strongly. While this name brings warm memories for many current and former students and families in the district, it also evokes the horror and brutality of the post-Reconstruction era; its continued use demonstrates a denial of the importance of its meaning and the painful impact it has on many people. While this may feel like “old history” that can be disregarded in contemporary decision-making, symbols such as this bring that history into sharp focus with an immediacy that doesn’t allow us to look away.

Change is a constant, and change will happen here. Social and community values directly affect property values as people make choices about where to raise families. A decision to retain the “Dixie” name will change the district’s reputation for excellence to a negative aspect, based on regressive policies and choices. I hope that the Marinwood community can unite for positive change and decide together on a new name that will better represent shared values.

— Lisa Doering, San Rafael

Voters should not repeal
state gas tax increase

I have been an engineering professional specializing in transportation planning and construction for the last 40 years and a Marin resident for the last 30 years. Over this period, despite the best efforts of our public works agencies, the condition of our roads and highways has deteriorated.

Long gone are the days when we could expect our journeys for work or pleasure to be relatively smooth and without concern for avoiding potholes or sitting in endless hours of congestion. Today we are faced with those realities and it won’t get any better unless we invest more in our transport system.

The recent increase in gas taxes under SB 1 is just to backfill what has been a deficit of decades. With the new increase, Marin will see $121 million more dedicated for roads, bridge repairs and transit over the next 10 years.

Similar amounts will accrue to our neighboring counties in Sonoma and Napa. I urge the voters of Marin, Sonoma and Napa to defeat the efforts of those who want to have us struggle any longer with substandard roads and transit and vote no on Proposition 6.

— Rus Rudden, Ross

Don’t stoke fears with
false information

As a longtime Sausalito resident, I am deeply disappointed by Ms. Wiltshire’s reiteration of a false narrative (Readers’ Forum, Oct. 12) that some candidates for the Sausalito Marin City School District board have been disseminating.

The fact is that Willow Creek Academy serves 75 percent of the public school students in our district, including more than half of the students from Marin City and more than half of our low-income and English-learner students. In fact, Willow Creek has more disadvantaged students than Bayside MLK has students.

It is simply false that Willow Creek is overfunded — it receives public funding of about $10,000 per student, while Bayside MLK receives more than $30,000 in public funding per student. Remarkably, the budget proposes to slash 25 percent of the funding from Willow Creek alone — even though the district is way overspending on overhead outside the classroom.

The candidates Ms. Wiltshire supports are just fine with that, and the candidates she attacks have actually proposed to solve the budget issues without cutting programs for any students in our district.

When a community-supported public school brings students and families together, increases the number of kids in public schools and educates the majority of low-income and English-learner students in a district more cost-effectively than ever before, it should be applauded and used as a model to serve all students in the district. Stoking fears and divisiveness with false information does nothing to serve our students or our community. Get the facts.